Most Overused Strategy In Baseball

[TheStarOne]

The defensive shift......I can't stand it...
And then you have your pitcher, pitch outside.......away from the shift.
Anthony Rizzo could hit .500 if he would bunt or push the ball.
And defensive infielders are lost.

 

[apachef4]

I agree, and I like the wording you used in the title: overused. It has it's place, but teams seem to be shifting almost everybody nowadays, and it's biting teams a lot more, at least anectdotaly. Let's leave the big shift to the dead-pull lefty power guys, please.

Then again, these teams must have data showing that it's working, or they wouldn't keep doing it. It's just frustrating watching a player get a hit on what should have been an easy out. I guess we don't notice it as much when it works.

 

[Loneranger]

The problem isn't the shift , it's the "hitters" who are demanding teams do it. It amazes me in this day/age that any player would allow himself to be reduced to this kind of hitter. What's more amazing is players who are in their 1st/2nd yr in the league are turning themselves into this kind of hitter. Who the fuck is coaching these guys? Are you telling me you're gonna watch a 23 yr old Lefty with all kinds of talent allow himself to become THIS? Ask Mark Teixeira how it's worked out. When he was young he hit the ball everywhere/anywhere and was really difficult to defend. He comes to NY and convinces himself he has to hit 300 Hr's/yr or he's a failure. Look at him these days , he's a joke. If a player is stupid enough to take 2/3's of the field off the table then I say do what these mgrs. are doing today. As a fan I can tell you I hate this more than anyone , mostly becuz players are doing this to themselves and are basically saying "i'll take the 1 HR/week in exchange for hitting .212 until my team gets sick of me". I still cannot believe any coach/coaches sit on their ass and allow a player to ruin themselves.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

This

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

The problem isn't the shift , it's the "hitters" who are demanding teams do it. It amazes me in this day/age that any player would allow himself to be reduced to this kind of hitter. What's more amazing is players who are in their 1st/2nd yr in the league are turning themselves into this kind of hitter. Who the fuck is coaching these guys? Are you telling me you're gonna watch a 23 yr old Lefty with all kinds of talent allow himself to become THIS? Ask Mark Teixeira how it's worked out. When he was young he hit the ball everywhere/anywhere and was really difficult to defend. He comes to NY and convinces himself he has to hit 300 Hr's/yr or he's a failure. Look at him these days , he's a joke. If a player is stupid enough to take 2/3's of the field off the table then I say do what these mgrs. are doing today. As a fan I can tell you I hate this more than anyone , mostly becuz players are doing this to themselves and are basically saying "i'll take the 1 HR/week in exchange for hitting .212 until my team gets sick of me". I still cannot believe any coach/coaches sit on their ass and allow a player to ruin themselves.

I think you make a fair point, but your melodramatic exaggerations take away from it.

You want to know how many qualified batters hit .212 or less last year? I'll give you a hint: you could count them on your penis.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Considering the purpose of the shift is to punish any clustering of balls in play, the hitter can either walk, try to hit through it anyway, or hit the other way. Or if you're feeling adventurous, try leaning crowding in to a pitch...

MLB hit 307/300/389 against the shift in 2015. Obviously this is strictly balls in play, so the OBP being lower than the average makes sense here.

With no shift, MLB hit 301/299/383 .

With a traditional shift, batters hit 292/291/374; more effective than normal defensive alignments/shades

Non-traditonal shift hitters hit 356/329/437 (ouch)

72.4% of shifts are traditional

19.5% of all 'plays' are shifted. This is misleading however since shifts can morph based on the hitter's count.

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

I think a rule will be implemented within 3 or 4 years regarding the shift

Players Union cannot be happy with how many hits (which equals dollars) are being taken away by the shift

And I totally agree a player should just learn to hit out of the shift

But I still see a rule change coming

 

[Fountain City Blues]

For giggles, the Giants hit 361 when putting balls in play vs the Shift- 1st.

The Yankees, Rangers, and Royals were numbers 1,2 and 3 in balls hit against the shift.

 

[Cedrique]

I think a rule will be implemented within 3 or 4 years regarding the shift

Players Union cannot be happy with how many hits (which equals dollars) are being taken away by the shift

And I totally agree a player should just learn to hit out of the shift

But I still see a rule change coming

That reminds me a lot of what is going on in the NBA. A lot of people bitching about certain players getting hacked but really how hard would it be for DeAndre Jordan or whoever to take the offseason and learn how to shoot a free throw.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

I think a rule will be implemented within 3 or 4 years regarding the shift

Players Union cannot be happy with how many hits (which equals dollars) are being taken away by the shift

And I totally agree a player should just learn to hit out of the shift

But I still see a rule change coming

I wouldn't really think so. The shift is about scraping the barrel for a marginal benefit for the most part. Sure, there a few hitting profiles that'll get absolutely trashed if they don't alter their approach against the shift, but overall it's not as big an impact as some seem to think it is. And hitters are already adjusting to it, imo.

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

I wouldn't really think so. The shift is about scraping the barrel for a marginal benefit for the most part. Sure, there a few hitting profiles that'll get absolutely trashed if they don't alter their approach against the shift, but overall it's not as big an impact as some seem to think it is. And hitters are already adjusting to it, imo.

Well, if hitters adjust to it, to the point that we see less of the shift, thats definitely the bets way to correct it

I just teams like the Rays and Yankees, I think they literally every other at bat

 

[Loneranger]

I think you make a fair point, but your melodramatic exaggerations take away from it.

You want to know how many qualified batters hit .212 or less last year? I'll give you a hint: you could count them on your penis.

actually my point was concise and accurate. For qualifications purposes I let you know I've played professionally and worked in the professional game. I do in fact know what I'm talking about and can tell you there are kids ruining careers becuz they allow their game to become this. Some are so fuckin stupid they think it's a sign of respect that teams defend them like this. They aren't intelligent enough to realize teams are letting them know in the most public way possible they think their game is a joke. Above all it demonstrates how little coaching is actually going on.

 

[GeekSportsFan]

The problem isn't the shift , it's the "hitters" who are demanding teams do it. It amazes me in this day/age that any player would allow himself to be reduced to this kind of hitter. What's more amazing is players who are in their 1st/2nd yr in the league are turning themselves into this kind of hitter. Who the fuck is coaching these guys? Are you telling me you're gonna watch a 23 yr old Lefty with all kinds of talent allow himself to become THIS? Ask Mark Teixeira how it's worked out. When he was young he hit the ball everywhere/anywhere and was really difficult to defend. He comes to NY and convinces himself he has to hit 300 Hr's/yr or he's a failure. Look at him these days , he's a joke. If a player is stupid enough to take 2/3's of the field off the table then I say do what these mgrs. are doing today. As a fan I can tell you I hate this more than anyone , mostly becuz players are doing this to themselves and are basically saying "i'll take the 1 HR/week in exchange for hitting .212 until my team gets sick of me". I still cannot believe any coach/coaches sit on their ass and allow a player to ruin themselves.

Exactly....How can a major league player not have the skill set to hit to the opposite field when the shift is on?

 

[Fountain City Blues]

actually my point was concise and accurate. For qualifications purposes I let you know I've played professionally and worked in the professional game. I do in fact know what I'm talking about and can tell you there are kids ruining careers becuz they allow their game to become this. Some are so fuckin stupid they think it's a sign of respect that teams defend them like this. They aren't intelligent enough to realize teams are letting them know in the most public way possible they think their game is a joke. Above all it demonstrates how little coaching is actually going on.

On the optimistic side, the shift can force a hitter to confront their weaknesses, or else. But yeah, for a few guys, the shift is going to pretty much thrash their batting averages.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Exactly....How can a major league player not have the skill set to hit to the opposite field when the shift is on?

What gets me is there isn't even an interest in bunting with a lot of these hitters- not all of them are blobs either. Just a lot of selfish baseball. Refusing to take the free base is maddening.

 

[SlinkyRedfoot]

actually my point was concise and accurate.

Your post was totally accurate, except for the parts that weren't.

 

[Mondo Jay]

Detroit just shifted against Jaso to start the game. I think 6 of his 10 hits coming in were to the opposite field.

He promptly goes the other way for a double.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Detroit just shifted against Jaso to start the game. I think 6 of his 10 hits coming in were to the opposite field.

He promptly goes the other way for a double.

The shift giveth, the shift taketh away.

 

[DragonfromTO]

I think a rule will be implemented within 3 or 4 years regarding the shift

Players Union cannot be happy with how many hits (which equals dollars) are being taken away by the shift

And I totally agree a player should just learn to hit out of the shift

But I still see a rule change coming

Pitchers play for free.

 

[Loneranger]

Exactly....How can a major league player not have the skill set to hit to the opposite field when the shift is on?

my take is I believe they ALL can do it, they choose not to. To these guys it's become an identity of sorts and they think this is a good thing. All of them got there becuz they have incredible talent. All of them can hit to all fields if it was a priority and they wanted to do it. They choose not to and they're allowed to. Can you imagine what some of these guys could do if they made a point of hitting the ball the other way? The numbers they could pile up would be impressive , not to mention it might win a game or 2.